Some Recoil At the Idea that God Ordains Evil or Disasters

It genuinely baffles me that there are professing Christians out there (e.g. Rachel Held Evans, Roger Olson) who, because of moral qualms, reject the biblical idea that disasters in this world are ordained by God. (Exodus 4:10-11, 12:29; Proverbs 16:4; 2 Sam 24:15-16; 1 Sam 15:2-3; Job 2:10; Isa 45:7; Amos 3:6; Eph 1:11) These concepts are so central to the biblical message that it makes the message of Christianity incoherent if they are rejected. Do they not stop to consider that due to the rebellion of Adam, humanity is now fallen and this whole world is under the judgment of God? And that anything that happens to us short of hell in this life is a mercy reminding us of our desperate condition and our need to flee to Christ for forgiveness?  Do these teachers think that we humans are innocent and do not deserve judgment? That a loving God would never do such a thing? Is not God also holy?  I do acknowledge that it is hard to behold the reality of our grim condition in our world, but it is vital if we are going to help those around us.

Some on the theological left contend that a truly sovereign God is a dangerous and un-Biblical concept. They cannot swallow the concept that the God of the Bible does preordain disasters, even disasters and evil that are enacted by men (Acts 2:23), and they can be seen as having been caused by sin, particularly original sin. That original sin puts humanity squarely in a place of judgment. Many of these folks on the left want to know how we can grieve disasters when they are ultimately God's plan. Reason:precisely because they are a punishment for original and continued sin. Ultimately catastrophes cause us to examine our own personal sin as well as the fallen state of the world. (Luke 13:4) Lord have mercy on us all.

Note: We should not pry into the secret counsel of God as to why he ordained particular disasters. We often hear irreverent, false teaching which presumes to know that the Orlando massacre or Katrina were God's judgment for a specific sin. Of course we know that God ordained these things to happen, but we cannot disrespect the primacy of scripture in discerning God's secret will by inserting our own opinions and impressions for it.



Related Resource
Letter from Visitor on Calvinism, Evil and God's Holiness

Wed, 07/13/2016 - 17:32 -- john_hendryx

By Topic

Joy

By Scripture

Old Testament

Genesis

Exodus

Leviticus

Numbers

Deuteronomy

Joshua

Judges

Ruth

1 Samuel

2 Samuel

1 Kings

2 Kings

1 Chronicles

2 Chronicles

Ezra

Nehemiah

Esther

Job

Psalms

Proverbs

Ecclesiastes

Song of Solomon

Isaiah

Jeremiah

Lamentations

Ezekiel

Daniel

Hosea

Joel

Amos

Obadiah

Jonah

Micah

Nahum

Habakkuk

Zephaniah

Haggai

Zechariah

Malachi

New Testament

Matthew

Mark

Luke

John

Acts

Romans

1 Corinthians

2 Corinthians

Galatians

Ephesians

Philippians

Colossians

1 Thessalonians

2 Thessalonians

1 Timothy

2 Timothy

Titus

Philemon

Hebrews

James

1 Peter

2 Peter

1 John

2 John

3 John

Jude

Revelation

By Author

Latest Links